Budget-friendly NE trip suggestions

[tzolkin]

I'm looking for some suggestions of short (3 day?) trips we could do with 4 kids (ages 15, 13, 8, 5). We live in Central NY (near Syracuse).

Our oldest is a foreign exchange student and we would like to do some fun things with her before she goes home in late June. We were hoping to go to FL & Disney, but we could not find a way to do it with school/sports/work schedules. Our family likes to go camping and go to some local attractions, but it seems like many things don't even open until late May or June.

We are considering Washington DC and Colonial Williamsburg, but honestly we are completely unfamiliar with both and it's hard to get a real sense of either searching around the internet. Some of the search websites are no help either because even when you put in the correct number of people they still try to give you rooms that only have one bed.

We would like to keep things as budget-friendly as possible so we could do a few different things over the next few months, but I know nothing can really be cheap with 6 people.


*Note: I did take the two teens to NYC in December so they could see the city and the Christmas decorations, so we've already had that experience.

 

[HeatherC]

DC and Williamsburg are great and can be done quite affordably.

For lodging look at Travelzoo.com or The Vacation Rentals on SkyAuction.com. We rent two or three bedroom condos through there for about $300 a week.

Would recommend Kings Creek Plantationin Williamsburg which shows up on SkyAuction a lot.

Hope this helps!

 

[minnierocks]

I highly recommend Washington DC. We stayed across the river in Pentagon City and bought a metro pass...had no trouble using the transit system all weekend. We walked to the Pentagon and felt completely safe in this area. Food choices were budget and plentiful. All of the museums/tourist sites that we wanted to see were free. Breakfast and parking were free with our hotel and we were connected to a mall. Washington DC is so rich in history...I love walking around and seeing everything.
We took the kids to Williamsburg when they were small and while it was interesting for them at the time...it is not something that I think they would enjoy now. In my opinion, admission tickets are not budget for a family. We really did enjoy our day but I don't think of it as a destination but a day trip. Norfolk/Virginia Beach are about an hour away. If it were me, I would plan a trip there and if you really wanted to go to Williamsburg, then a plan a day for it.
Williamsburg is a created, historical place...while done very well, I would take the real thing any day.

 

[disneyred]

I highly recommend Washington DC. We stayed across the river in Pentagon City and bought a metro pass...had no trouble using the transit system all weekend. We walked to the Pentagon and felt completely safe in this area. Food choices were budget and plentiful. All of the museums/tourist sites that we wanted to see were free. Breakfast and parking were free with our hotel and we were connected to a mall. Washington DC is so rich in history...I love walking around and seeing everything.
We took the kids to Williamsburg when they were small and while it was interesting for them at the time...it is not something that I think they would enjoy now. In my opinion, admission tickets are not budget for a family. We really did enjoy our day but I don't think of it as a destination but a day trip. Norfolk/Virginia Beach are about an hour away. If it were me, I would plan a trip there and if you really wanted to go to Williamsburg, then a plan a day for it.
Williamsburg is a created, historical place...while done very well, I would take the real thing any day.

which hotel did you stay at in washington ?

 

[minnierocks]

which hotel did you stay at in washington ?

We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton/Pentagon City...at the time, they were running a special that included breakfast and free valet parking. I think we paid about 119/night. It was about three summers ago. It is attached to a mall and the metro station was in front of hotel.

 

[disneyred]

We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton/Pentagon City...at the time, they were running a special that included breakfast and free valet parking. I think we paid about 119/night. It was about three summers ago. It is attached to a mall and the metro station was in front of hotel.

wow.. i think thats a great price for that area ...